RECOUNT LOOMS, BUT SULLIVAN TALKS LIKE SENATE PRESIDENT

MATTHEW DALY; Courant Staff WriterTHE HARTFORD COURANT

He hasn't officially been named to the job, and his party still faces a mandatory recount before it is even assured of regaining the majority, but Democrat Kevin B. Sullivan is already acting like the new president of the state Senate.

A day after Tuesday's election apparently propelled Democrats to a slim, 19-17 majority in the Senate, the never-shy Sullivan held a press conference to outline his plans for how he will run the upper chamber over the next two years.

"Our job is to raise issues of importance and find common ground with the voters of Connecticut," Sullivan declared. "We have every opportunity to make a fresh start for Connecticut, and that's our intention."

Sullivan, 47, of West Hartford, said he has the votes from fellow Democrats to ascend to the Senate's top job and serve as one of Republican Gov. John G. Rowland's chief foils over the next two years.

Never mind that an official vote of Democratic senators will not be held until next week or that Republicans insist a recount in the hotly contested 4th Senate District will annul the Democrats' apparent majority.

"It is my sincere hope and expectation that I will be the next president pro tem" of the Senate, Sullivan told reporters. "My count [of Democratic senators] says that is so."

Republicans were not so sure. They re-elected the chamber's current president pro tem, M. Adela Eads of Kent, as Republican leader Wednesday and said she could serve either as Senate president or minority leader, depending on the recount in the 4th District.

Final returns released by the secretary of the state's office late Wednesday showed that Manchester Deputy Mayor Mary Ann Handley defeated Sen. Paul Munns, R- Manchester, by 93 votes, 21,832 to 21,739. That slim margin requires an automatic recount, officials said. The recount must be conducted by Wednesday.

In another close race, Sen. Mark Nielsen, R-Danbury, defeated Democrat Thomas J. Arconti by 221 votes out of 34,665 ballots cast, based on the final returns released by the secretary of the state's office. Because the margin exceeds 0.5 percent of the total vote, an automatic recount is not required, said Bernard Kavaler, a spokesman for Secretary of the State Miles S. Rapoport.

Arconti could still challenge the results in court, Kavaler said.

Despite the uncertainty over the 4th District results, Sullivan and other Democrats were presuming that, for now at least, they had recaptured the Senate.

Even Rowland seemed to concede that Democrats had the advantage, although he stressed that his remarks were subject to change, based on the results of the recount.

"We were very successful working with the House Democrats last year, and from the tones and the overtures that I've heard from the Senate Democrats [since the polls closed Tuesday night], I think we'll be able to work with them as well," Rowland told reporters.

"Their contention was that they played the role of the minority party and basically were the loyal opposition" in the last session, Rowland said of Senate Democrats. "Now that they hold the majority, which it looks like they will, they will be able to work with us."

Eads, who has served as Republican leader since 1991, was less willing to concede the point. She called Sullivan's press conference premature, but added that if Sullivan does succeed her as Senate president, she can work with him.

"I've always been able to get along with Kevin and I intend to do it now," she said. "He's a personable individual and very bright and he certainly knows parliamentary procedure."

Current Senate Majority Leader James T. Fleming, R-Simsbury, who frequently clashed with Sullivan over the past two years, also said he could work with him.

"I actually like the guy," Fleming said. "I think he's competent. He's easy enough to work with. I've worked with him for two years."

Sullivan, for his part, said he saw Tuesday's election as a chance for Democrats to work with Rowland to reduce taxes, reform education and reduce the size of government. He disputed suggestions by reporters that a battle was brewing over whether to cut the property tax, as Democrats favor, or the income tax, as Rowland favors.

"I don't see anything that will be difficult" over the next session, he said.

Democrats and Rowland both favor balancing the budget and cutting taxes, so a debate over how to do that is one he welcomes, Sullivan said.

"If we and the governor find ourselves in the mainstream, well, the water feels pretty good," he said.

Rowland, who said last week that handing control of the Senate back to Democrats would be a "disaster," began backing away from those comments Tuesday night.

By Wednesday he seemed to forget he had made them at all.

"The election is over. It's time to govern," Rowland said. "We will be able to work with Senate Democrats, and they'll be able to work with us. The days of real partisan bickering are over.